Surprise!
by Dragoni
Summary: It's Cye's birthday... What are the others doing to his kitchen?


"Surprise" By Dragoni Ryo eyed his captive carefully. He was tricky, this one. He'd almost escaped twice already today, only to be caught and again subjected to Ryo'd mind-numbing surveillance. Now, his charge sat uncomfortably in a hard wooden chair, bound by ropes, cloth swaths, and more than a few rolls of duct tape, so that he was barely visible. Only his eyes remained untouched, and they blazed with impotent fury at the Ronin leader.  
  
"Oh, give it up, Cye!" Ryo snapped at his difficult friend. "You know that if you hadn't tried so hard to escape you'd be free now!"  
  
The only answer to this comment was an even more baleful look and an accompanying mumble from beneath the mummifying layers. Ryo almost regretted what he was doing, but he had pulled the short straw...  
  
Annoyed, he shook his head and went back to his game of solitaire. Originally, he was only supposed to keep the English boy out of the house for a few hours. Unfortunately, that had proved to be too hard to do. He had finally given up, and had to resort to force to keep Cye in place. It didn't seem that Cye was too thrilled with Ryo's solution, either, from the looks that he kept throwing. Ryo muttered a silent prayer that the others would be done soon. How long could it really take?  
  
A resounding crash echoed from the kitchen. Cye glanced up in horror and cast a pleading look at his jailer. Who knew what they were doing in there? He'd been trapped in the living room for what seemed like an eternity. And all the while, THEY were in his kitchen. With nobody to supervise them! The sounds of clanking metal and glass filled the air like a horrible symphony, grating on his every nerve and increasing his nervousness with each clang.  
  
It had to have been forever he'd been trapped out here! He glanced at Ryo again, but saw his 'friend' deeply engrossed in the card game. A mumbled sigh escaped him and was lost to the million layers that bound him. It seemed like he was stuck for the time being.  
  
"Oops..."  
  
"Oops, what?" Kento asked his blue-haired friend. Rowen was supposed to be mixing icing to top the cake the four other Ronin Warriors had decided to make for Cye's birthday. "What did you do now?"  
  
A single glance more than provided the answer. Instead of the creamy mixture he was supposed to have, Rowen had somehow managed to get powdered sugar all over everything... except the bowl he was supposed to be mixing it in.  
  
"It wasn't my fault! the bag wouldn't open!"  
  
"Well, get a different bag then! And this time, use scissors... don't rip it open!" Kento shook his head impatiently and began to sweep the extra sugar off the counters. Seeing nothing else to put it in, he dumped it into a small bowl for the time being and went back to reading the instructions in Cye's big black cookbook. "Two whole eggs, one cup of water, a half cup each of sugar and vinegar..."  
  
"Slow down...I'm not that fast, you know..." Sage gently chastised Kento, turning from the refrigerator and depositing the eggs in the small bowl on the counter. He turned to the cupboard and stopped in his tracks. "Now what kind of cup do you suppose he meant?"  
  
A loud crash sounded from the other side of the kitchen, where Rowen had accidentally knocked over the glass pan they were going to bake the cake in. The other two jumped and quickly turned to look at the crystalline shards that now covered the floor.  
  
"Way to go, bright boy... NOW what are we going to bake it in?" Kento was clearly annoyed.  
  
Rowen shot him an unworried grin. "Hey, don't worry... he's got a million a'these things! Now, let's see..." He rummaged through a few cupboards before selecting a large, heavy iron skillet. "This thing looks big enough... it should work..."  
  
Cye was starting to seriously worry. The house had suddenly become far too quiet. Valiant fighters his friends might be, but cooks they definitely were not. The abrupt silence chilled his blood more than any battle or disaster ever could. What could they be doing in there? They didn't know a spatula from a blender, for crying out loud! He tossed his bangs out of his eyes with an impatient shake of his head. How could they do this to him?  
  
He raised his head to glare at his captor. Ryo had apparently given up on his card game. Instead he was intently staring at the TV, which was showing some sports program. He practically shook with rage. How DARE he sit there so calmly? Didn't Ryo know what this horrible suspense was doing to his friend? Did he have no pity? Didn't he realize that if Cye ever got free he was going to hunt them down one by one and torture them?  
  
As if he sensed the hostility behind this thought, Ryo looked up at his bound friend. A smirk crossed his face.  
  
"You know, it's only for your own good. You'll love your surprise when it's done." Cye's responding glare would have frozen a volcano.  
  
Ryo shuddered and began to reconsider. He couldn't let Cye loose...with the mood his fishy friend was in, each of the conspirators would die a horrible death, probably many times over. Still, maybe it would be a good idea to get him out of the house for a bit...  
  
"If I undid the tape, would you hurt me right now?" His response was an evilly gleeful look. Ryo gulped. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea...  
  
Suddenly, inspiration struck. He switched the channel to an ocean documentary and lifted his friend's chair - with Cye still firmly taped to it - to a place where the set was easily visible and cranked the volume.  
  
Bingo! The animosity faded from his friend's eyes. Ryo breathed a sigh of relief, then returned to his forgotten card game. It wasn't as interesting as sports, but at least he'd live through it.  
  
An acrid, burnt smell filled the kitchen. Three heads slowly turned to look at the oven. Three faces registered shock and dismay at the black smoke that seeped out of the corners. Three friends watched a moment in mute horror as the smoke stained the white ceiling grey.  
  
Sage silently walked over the oven and turned off the heat. Anxiously he reached for the handle and opened the door, coughing softly as a cloud of black smoke billowed out to meet him. He pulled out the small, hard, black object that looked like a grotesque mockery of a cake. Placing it on the counter, he looked at the others.  
  
"Strike two."  
  
Ryo sniffed at the air. Burnt cake? That did not bode well. The documentary was almost halfway over... He hoped that Sage, Kento, and Rowen would be able to pull this off before Cye returned from his TV-induced stupor to the real world. If not... well... it would not be pretty.  
  
With no more than two minutes to spare, the door to the kitchen burst open, framing a triumphant looking Rowen, covered in a thick layer of powdered sugar. He looked at Ryo and nodded, then disappeared back into the kitchen.  
  
A relieved grin plastered itself over Ryo's face. He had known that they could do it... it had just taken a little longer than expected. Still smiling, he sauntered over to the TV and switched it off, then began the long process of untying his slowly reviving friend.  
  
The trio exchanged happy, exhausted glances. It had taken forever, it seemed, but they had finally made it. Cye would be proud of them, making him a birthday cake all by themselves. It wouldn't win any prizes to be sure. Instead of the smooth icing and intricate designs that Cye decorated with, this cake had tiny sprinkles shaped like shells on top of a layer of messy, delicious, sea-green icing. Nodding to each other, they paraded out of the kitchen and into the dining room.  
  
Cye sat at the head of the table, glancing irritably at Ryo, who had insisted that he remain seated calmly for just five minutes. "You've already waited for three hours...what difference will a few minutes make?" Cye wanted to tell him exactly how much of a difference it would make, but decided against it. If nothing else, he had a few more minutes to plot his revenge.  
  
Suddenly the lights went out. He looked up to see a tiny parade wind through the dining room toward him. A rousing, off-key chorus of Happy Birthday was sung and the cake was placed right in front of the startled birthday boy. After they finished Cye sat mutely for a moment, overcome by emotion. It wasn't a work of art, but the gesture touched him.  
  
"Thank you, my friends..." The phrase trailed off. The others exchanged proud, happy grins.  
  
"So how long are we going to stand here looking at it? Let's eat!" Rowen yelped enthusiastically. Sage restored the lights and the party began.  
  
Afterwards, Rowen and Kento went to the living room to watch a hockey game. Cye gathered the plates and headed toward the kitchen, while Ryo and Sage exchanged knowing, half-fearful glances.  
  
"Five?" Ryo started.  
  
"Four..." Sage agreed.  
  
"Three..."  
  
"Two..."  
  
"One..."  
  
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY KITCHEN?????"  
  
The End 


End file.
